Redefining “American” Style: The Journey Home Kitchen Collection

As a social enterprise, one of our passions is to introduce our customers to God’s creativity as reflected in the cultures, customs and styles from around the world. Learning to see the beauty in the things that are outside of our culture is key to becoming better neighbors, friends and world citizens. Beyond that, learning more about our wonderful world enriches our lives and perspectives.

We believe style & decor – such as table linens – is a wonderful way to share the beauty found in the cultures around the world.

And that brings us to the Journey Home kitchen & table linens Collection. We spend so much of our lives preparing food and sharing mealtimes with others – it’s a natural connecting point! It’s also a great time to have conversations about a wide range of subjects…including world cultures, poverty alleviation and immigration. So why not have table and kitchen linens that help prompt those conversations?

The Journey Home Kitchen Collection is designed to do just that. We start off with quality towels & fabrics. Those kitchen linens are then paired with textiles from various countries. We share with you the stories (compiling those is a work in process) of the origins of these fabric styles.

What prompted this collection? Well, it started in part when pitching our clutch line to a trendy Charlotte gift shop. As we shared about the purses, we mentioned that we loved using handwoven Burmese fabric in our clutches, as this fabric was an important part of our refugee artisans’ heritage. The response we received from the gift shop owner was surprising: “Those women are in America now. They need to make American things.” Needless to say, we decided our clutch line probably wasn’t a good fit at this gift shop.

What is “American” style? In keeping with our country’s tradition of being the great melting pot, we think it’s all about celebrating what’s good and beautiful in this world. That’s what American style is all about.

So learn about Jaipur block print napkins! Or the history of kente fabric from Ghana. Then pick up a gift set that shares these stories AND provides dignified work as a way out of poverty. And don’t pigeonhole “American” style to some pre-determined look. Expand your horizons…and your understanding of the world.